While the first set of government domestic charge point grants have now expired, current and potential EV owners need not despair as OLEV has committed to continuing support into 2015.
At the end of June 2014 OLEV announced they would initiate a new grant scheme to continue the support of home charging installations, starting on September 1st 2014. Electric vehicle (EV) drivers and enthusiasts may have been left wondering what happens in the meantime.
To address this issue, OLEV has implemented interim measures to cover the gap between the two grant schemes. This is good news for EV drivers who have already ordered a charging point for their property with an accredited supplier, but not so great for those hoping to place an order this summer.
Importantly, OLEV has explicitly expressed that the interim measures were designed to satisfy existing orders and to allow suppliers to manage stock levels. The government body has strongly advised suppliers against taking any new orders during July and August.
The interim measures follow similar guidelines to the first set of grants that were launched in February 2013. To be eligible you must have access to some kind of off-street parking, although it is not a requirement to own/drive an EV. Furthermore, as with the previous scheme, applications are accepted from private individuals only. The grant, should your application be accepted, will cover up to 75% or £1000 of the charge point installation costs.
The best bet for those thinking of getting a charge point installed at home is to wait for the new scheme to kick in at the beginning of September. There will be some notable differences to the previous scheme, which are listed below:
1. Applicants must be able to provide evidence of ownership of, or access to, a plug-in vehicle in order to be able to qualify for the grant
2. The grant will remain as a 75% contribution to the cost of charge point installation but there will be a new lower grant cap of £900
The changes come in response to lowering prices of charge point software and hardware as well as an attempt to protect against the grants being misspent. The new set of grants will hopefully encourage people who do not already own an EV to make the switch now in order to take advantage of the discounts. Before people could install a charge point without owning an EV, now it’s all or nothing!
For more information, visit the OLEV website.
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